Sylvania



L. T. STANLEY. ELECTRIC SWITCH.

'(No Model.)

No. 472,610. Patented Apr. 12, 1892.

m'zmsea UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LUCIUS T. STANLEY, OF BROOKLYN, NEWV YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE CUTTER ELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENN- SYLVANIA.

ELECTRIC SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 472,610, dated April 12, 1

Application filed September 24, 1891. Serial No. 406,643. (No model.)

T at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LUCIUS T. STANLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brook lyn, in the county of Kings and State of New 5 York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrical Switches, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the drawings accompanying and forming a part of the same.

This invention is primarily designed as a means of making and breaking an electric circuit. The mechanical movement, however, which the mechanism involves is applicable generally to other devices in which a sudden movement in either of two directions of a part or parts is a necessary function. For example, the principle of the construction of the means for shifting or throwing the contactarm may be applied to shifting the'shutters of cameras or for any other analogous purpose.

The construction and operation of the mechanism forming the subject of this specification and which comprises my present invention is based upon a well-known mechanical movement in which is there is connected to a pivoted or rocking arm or equivalent element and to a point thereon eccentric to its fulcrum or center of oscillation a spring which exerts thereon a certain pull or tension. The direc- 0 tion of this pull or tension is varied by moving the spring, and for this purpose it has been usual to connect the opposite end of the spring to an arm or lever, which in its movement carries the spring and shifts the line of ten- 3 5 sion across a line passing through the fulcrum of the first'named lever and the point of connection of the spring therewith. I have constructeda mechanical movement on this principle; but I have greatly simplified the 40 construction and increased the efficiency of the same by employing a flat resilient strip as the actuating-spring and by so arranging the parts that the reaction of the spring is much more effectively applied to shifting the mov- 5 ing part than in the devices of this kind heretofore devised.

For a more specific description of my invention I now refer to the accompanying drawings. The three figures show the complete mechanism in side elevation and in three different positions.

In Figure 1 the switch is off, in Fig. 2 it has been brought to the position in which the spring by its reaction is just on the point of shifting the'contact-arm, and in Fig. 3 the switch is on.

The mechanism is shown as contained in a box or case M, intended to fit into a recess in a Wall or the like and provided with a faceplate N. Through this plate work two pushbuttons Y X, connected by links I) with the opposite ends of a bell-crank or rocking lever R, mounted on a shaft 0, within the switch box or case. An arm B extends downward and at right angles from the center of the lever and serves as the means for shifting the line or direction of the tension of the spring. The arm B is turned or shifted from side to'side by pushing in one or the other of the buttons X Y. A contact plate or lever A is fulcrumed or swung on the shaft a, or it may be on an independent shaft, and in its path of movement is a contact-plate or pair of plates D, with which the lever when the circuit is to be closed is thrown into contact. When a pair of plates D is used and the lever comes between them, Iprefer to cut out a piece from the corner of the lever or that part last to leave the plates D and insert a piece of mica or other insulating materlal, as shown at P. This construction or feature, however, is the same as that described in Patout No. 437,667, dated September 30, 1890, to Stanley and Cutter.

A strip of resilient metal or other material C is secured by its ends to the arm B and lever A, respectively. The length of this strip is greater than the greatest distance between its two points of connection, so that it will always be more or less bowed and under a tension that maintains the lever A in one of its extreme positions. I prefer to use for this strip a flat steel spring-such as a piece of a watch or clockspring-and to bend its ends into hooks that engage with pins 0 c.

In the position shown in Fig. 1 the tendency of the spring C to straighten out maintains the lever A out of contact and against a stop 61. In Fig. 2 the arm B has been turned until the point of connection of the spring C with it has been brought up to or nearly up to the line passing through the other point of connection of the spring and the fulcrum of the lever A. By a further movement, which carries the first-mentioned end across this line, the spring, which up to this point has been bent by the close approach of its ends, is freed and its full force is applied directly to shifting the lever A over between the confacts I). The return of the lever is effected by a similar action.

This mechanism may be applied to a great varietyof switches, single-pole or double-pole, and is, as I have shown above, a useful mechanical movement for various other purposes.

\Vhat I claim is- 1. A mechanical movement for electrical switches and other purposes, consisting'in the combination of a pivotal lever or part to be shifted, stops for limiting the movement of the same, an operating part or handle capable of movement independently of the said lever, and a flat resilient strip, one end of which is permanently secured to the pivotal lever eccentrically and the other end to a point on the operating, part that is movable across the line joining the fulcrum of the lever and the point thereon to Which the said strip is connected.

The combination of contact-terminals, a pivotal contact-lever, stops for limiting the movement of the same, a pivoted operatinglever capable of movement independently of the contact-lever, and a flat resilent strip, one end of which is permanently secured to the contact-lever eccentrically and the other to a point on the operating-lever that is movable across the line joiningthe fulcrum of the contact-lever and the point thereon to which the resilient strip is attached.

3. The combination of the rocking lever B, the push-buttons for turning the same, the contact-lever mounted concentrically with the rocking lever, and the flat spring having its ends connected with the lever or arm B and the contact-lever A, respectively, asset forth.

LUCIUS 'l. STANLEY. Witnesses:

the. W. REED, PARKER W. PAGE. 

